Third time's the Charm
by SKLBug210
Summary: Spike struggles to understand how things ended up like this with Buffy ... On Hiatus
1. Chapter 1

June 11, 2004; Friday 11:59 pm

"_Nice work, love."_

_"Who are you?"_

_"You'll find out on Saturday"_

_"What happens on Saturday?"_

_"I kill you."_

The wind weaves around me, my coat flowing with it. I remain still, my prey in my sight. My throat closes up at the thought and I try to pretend that tears are not pricking at my eyes. I would do anything, _anything_, to not have to kill her.

Her green eyes are staring at me now. There's a look in them that I cannot comprehend although I feel I should. It takes me back to when we first properly laid eyes on each other.

She was confused when I first appeared to her all those years ago. I could see it on her face. Confused and yet, there was a sort of recognition. Somethin' inside her recognized me. Just as somethin' inside me recognized her. She was young, still a child, but she radiated power. The power that had flowed through so many girls before her. She stood there, watchin' me. I would imagine I radiated danger to her and not just because of my appearance. Her friends were on either side of this young powerful girl. They weren't important to me of course. She was. With one last look at the Slayer I turned and left after promisin' her I'd see her on Saturday. She stayed where she was, still confused, but knowin' a threat when she heard one.

Now, as I stand here, starin' at her, I can't help but remember the first words I ever spoke to her, all those years ago, a whole ocean away. My intent then, was to draw her out. Take my time, nice and slow, enjoy the fight and eventually kill her. Most vampires when invokin' the slayer wanted to kill her right there right then. Not me. She was special. She was the Vampire Slayer. The one girl in all the world with the strength and power to fight the vampires. She deserved to be, for lack of a better word, courted. It wasn't all about the kill as most made it out to be. It was about the fight. About the dance. The Vampire Slayers deserved someone special for that dance.

I was the Slayer of the Slayers. I was the one vampire who sought the girls out. The one to match them in their fight. To be their dance give them a death worthy of them. Every Slayer has a death wish. I was there to grant them that. There were two Slayers before her. Young girls that I made it my mission to fight and ultimately triumph against. To be the one to defeat such powerful young females. Beings that when mentioned, scared others of my kind. The power that gave me. It was an ambrosia.

Even back then in that alley way, I knew that this Slayer, the third one I'd ever met, was different. There was a sort of atmosphere around her. She had friends and family, people that made her not just a slayer but a real live human being. Because of them she was Buffy. The Slayer that even without a soul I came to love. Even now, I couldn't tell you what exactly it was about her.

Bein' in love with Drusilla at least, made some sense. She was not only a vampire, but my sire. It was only natural that I would love her. Fallin' for Buffy, the Slayer of Vampires was another thing altogether, _especially_ considerin' I had no soul. I can just imagine what the boy, Andrew, would say about this. On second thought I'd rather not.

Thinkin' about it, I suppose it started with Peaches losing his soul, courtesy of Buffy and returnin' to Drusilla and me. If that hadn't happened I'd never have made a deal with the Slayer to stop Angelus from destroyin' the world. We'd just have gone on fightin' each other until one or the other died. That was how it was suppose to be. That was how it had been since the Slayer was created and how it should have gone on. However Angelus did come back to us and I did make that deal with Buffy. This caused a rift in my relationship with my Dark Goddess who eventually left me. After makin' out with a Chaos demon. Really a Chaos demon. I still can't understand it with the slime and the antlers and everythin'.

I was upset, returned to Sunnydale several times, one of which was when the U.S. government put that bleedin' chip in my head and I ended up gettin' involved with the bleedin' scoobies. Hunger makes one do desperate things. Things get murkier there. It just happened. One day she was the Slayer, the annoyin' little bint that was there every time I turned around muckin' up my plans, the next, she was my golden goddess, my Goldilocks. Even now she has that gorgeous golden hair I want to run my fingers through.

She's standin' ten feet in front of me, deceptively still, as we stare at each other. This woman who started out as an enemy, before becomin' my lover and endin' as my friend. We are once more enemies. Visually, she still appears like the woman I loved. The hair, the eyes, every gesture she makes is reflective of Buffy Summers. So many things have changed since then. She is grinnin' at me now. It's no longer her soft smile, but the grin of a predator. We are moving now, circlin' one another. _Dancing._ I once told her that dancing was all we've ever done. It seems even with our time apart that's one thing that hasn't changed.

Standin' this close to her, I can sense the changes that have been wrought in her. I can't help but think that a few years ago I would have been pleased. I would have laughed, been elated and rubbed her friends' noses in it. A few years before that the idea would have amused me for a few before I went back to my daily life. Now, the very idea sickens me. I know better than most, with the exception of one, what these changes truly mean.

All those years ago when I had sought her out, I was determined to make her my third. Now it looks like she may be. But not in the way that I had intended. Tears pool in my eyes. She sees this and laughs at me. Her beautiful green eyes flash yellow.

I lunge, stake in my hand, aimed at her non beating heart.

A.N. This story has been completely rewritten. I find the changes have led to a more exciting story, and I would love to hear your opinion on these exciting changes. Also the majority of the story has been rewritten so hopefully there will be less of a wait between chapters. Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

_February 13, 2004; Friday_

The blue fabric that covered the cushion was clenched between long fingers, hands tense. The young woman, 23 year old Buffy Summers; sat next to the window, legs pulled up underneath her, arms by her side, hands tight on the blue cushion. A big black sweater billowed around the petite frame, the breeze blowing through the apartment from the open window, jeans encasing long legs. The 23 year old blond was currently leaning her forehead against the cool glass, looking out at the scene below her.

Rome. Buffy's home ever since she had left America months before. She had to admit it was a beautiful city in an even more beautiful country. It had interesting people, delicious foods, gorgeous clothes… and Buffy was miserable here. She was in a strange country away from everything she had grown up knowing. The food was heavier, the language unfamiliar, the customs different. There was nothing familiar or comforting in her new city. Everything was completely strange and alien. Well almost everything. There were plenty of vampires in Rome. Of course that was only at night, and right now there was plenty of sunlight streaming in the window to assure her that her services were not needed.

Buffy pulled away from the window and looked around at the beautiful, spacious, apartment that she called home. Giles had managed to gain access to some funds the Council had set aside and given some of them to her and Dawn. Buffy had been slightly annoyed at first. If the Council had had _that_ much money, why the hell had they not paid her? All her stress about financial issues and working at the Doublemeat Palace and all along the Council had more than enough. Okay, so Buffy had been more than _slightly _annoyed.

The young woman lowered the legs that had been tucked up underneath her to the floor and standing up from her seat at the window, moved across the room, letting her hand glide over the back of the deep brown leather couch Dawn had insisted they buy. Buffy had tried to make the argument about saving money for college for Dawn (and maybe one day her) but somehow Dawn had managed to win the argument. Buffy frowned; she still wasn't sure how _that _had happened. Of course maybe it was because Buffy had only halfheartedly tried. Her heart just wasn't in it anymore. She missed her friends, she missed Giles, she missed English spoken with American accents, she missed… Spike.

And Angel. Buffy frowned at herself. Angel was… complicated and Spike was dead. Dead, dead, not undead. Hell, she even missed Faith at times. She still wasn't sure what five by five meant, but she kind of missed hearing it. She drew the line at missing Andrew though. Nope, she would not miss that little, well she had a lot of words for what Andrew was.

Buffy had considered trying to get a job in Rome that didn't involve weapons of any kind, but just couldn't work up enough energy to put herself out there. Plus, she found that a lot of the jobs out there required knowing Italian and Buffy had only managed to learn basic phrases. Of course that led to a lot of free time on her hands like today, where she was free to mope around the apartment.

This led to arguments with her rational side that told her she was being overly emotional and stupid. She had been freed from the Hellmouth, she was in a beautiful country, she had money, she was young and healthy, she should be enjoying herself and doing things such as flirting with gorgeous Italian men and shopping by day and killing evil things at night. Strangely enough that voice sound like Faith.

Buffy sighed as she walked through the doorway, leaving the living room behind her. She sat down at the beautifully crafted wood table in the kitchen. She really shouldn't have let Dawn have had as much say as she had in choosing their furniture, Buffy still felt the pain of the financial worries she had gone through a couple of years before.

She flipped open the beautiful and expensive laptop lying on the kitchen table to see if she had received messages from any of her friends. When they had parted ways, a few months after they left Sunnydale, they had found it easier to contact each other by email. At first they had been sending emails all the time. Lately though, the emails had trickled to a stop. Buffy hadn't heard from either of her friends in months. Every so often she received a phone call from Giles updating her on the progress of forming a new council, which sounded like it was moving along a lot smoother than Buffy's new life.

A knock came at the door, interrupting Buffy's thoughts. The young woman stood up as she closed the lid on her small black laptop, making her way over to the door and opening it without looking through the peephole. She stared at the very unexpected sight before her.

A man stood in front of her holding a bouquet of flowers. Roses and lilies were the only flowers Buffy could identify. Purples and pinks and yellow made up the bouquet.

"Miss Buffy Summers?" he asked in an Italian accented voice.

"Yes?" she responded, tearing her gaze away from the colorful confection in front of her, confusion marring her features as she looked up at the dark haired man. He looked to be about 6 feet tall with blue eyes. He also appeared to be in his early twenties. Buffy knew she should think he was attractive, but she wasn't feeling it.

"These are for you," the delivery man said with a flourish, handing the flowers over to the stunned girl with a small smirk.

Buffy, in a state of shock, took the flowers, as the man turned and left the hallway. She turned around shutting the door behind her, failing to notice the way the man kept himself away from the daylight that was streaming in through the windows in the apartment building's hallway.

Who was sending her flowers? Buffy put the bouquet down on her counter, before lifting the card out and opening it.

_For you, my love. _

Buffy stared at the card, flipping it over and than back. There was nothing more on it. What the hell?

Rupert Giles sat in the small office in the new Watchers' Council Headquarters which was located just outside of London in a nondescript brick building.

After everyone who had survived the fight against the First had left Sunnydale, Giles had suggested going to his home in England to regroup and figure out their next steps. For the next few weeks, Buffy and the other slayers, as well as Xander and Willow had made themselves at home, while discussing what to do. Buffy and Giles had agreed that the other slayers out there had to be trained. This meant they needed to be found. It also meant that they needed Watchers to help train the girls.

Within a few months; after Giles had gained access to what remained of the old Watchers' Council; he had managed to set up training sites in various places across the globe where the slayers could be taken to be trained. A few of the old watchers that hadn't been killed, had willingly come to work for the new council he was setting up. The majority of the slayers that had fought against the First, agreed to help train the new girls.

A few of them however had left, not willing to be a part of this new council. Buffy had stopped anyone from going after them. After all she had quit the council once and had been fine. Faith had taken her side and had pointed out if any of these new slayers did cause problems they could go after them then. Giles had reluctantly agreed.

Giles had also managed to retain a few of the psychics that had worked for the old council so they could help find the newly called slayers, as well as alert the Council to any potential issues. For instance, there had been a few of the surviving watchers who weren't pleased with what Giles and Buffy were doing. Giles knew most of them would find other jobs and let it go, but there were one or two that he was worried about. He had the psychics keeping an extra close eye on them.

Then, of course, there was this whole disaster with Angel running Wolfram and Hart and the run in with Dana. Giles had sent Andrew to Los Angeles to take care of it and try to figure out what Angel was up to. And partially to get rid of the new watcher for a few days.

Andrew had returned reporting that the slayer operation in California was successful in taking Dana off of Angel's hands and they were currently working with the young woman to see what could be done. Giles knew, within a moment of seeing the young Watcher in training, that he was keeping something from him. It took only a few moments of intense questioning to get Andrew to spill that Spike was alive and well in Los Angeles.

That gave Giles a few moments pause, as he debated whether or not to tell Buffy. Andrew begged him not to as he had promised the bleached blond vampire he wouldn't say anything. Giles reassured him that it was their little secret. He hoped that the vampire would refrain from inserting himself into Buffy's life yet again, but he knew deep down it was only a matter of time. Spike had a tendency on showing up when he was least expected and least welcomed.

A.N. Thank you for reading and reviewing!


	3. Chapter 3

_February 8, 2004 _

_Spike stumbled back, Angel standing protectively between him and Cordelia, the latter still holding her neck where the vampire had bitten her. _

_Cordelia yelled. "I thought he had a soul." That's what Angel had said after all. She couldn't help but notice that he seemed very annoyed by the fact. Of course, the woman reflected on it, that meant he couldn't just go up and stake Spike. Or he could, but knowing the moody vampire, he would feel guilty over it and feel of course feel angry he was feeling guilty. _

_Spike reto__rted, gesturing to the female, "I thought she didn't". _

"_I do!" The brunette protested, angrily and slightly confused. Why would he think she didn't have a soul? She wasn't Angel. _

_"So do I!" _

_Cordelia came back with, "Well, clearly, mine's better." After all she wasn't going around biting people. Or doing other more normal things to hurt people. _

_Spike moved toward the Seer, Angel reaching out and slamming him against a wall. Spike wasn't going to get a second chance to attack Cordelia. _

February 16, 2004; Monday

Dawn Summers stood leaning against the wall waiting, her eyes searching the crowd of the other students leaving classrooms and entering new ones. She couldn't help comparing this school to her last one, in Sunnydale. There wasn't much of a difference.

"Hey," a seventeen year old, dark haired Italian girl came up next to Dawn. Dawn turned to face the girl and grinned. The other girl was just slightly shorter than the American, meaning Dawn had to look down at her. This gave her a good view, of the slightly curvy, dark haired girl.

"Hey Adelaide," Dawn said to her friend, who leaned against the cool, blue tiled wall next to her.

"Where is Julian," Adelaide asked, fingers playing with the strap on her bag that was slung over her shoulder. Dawn shrugged in response.

"I'm not sure," she answered her eyes briefly meeting her friend's darker ones before going back to search the crowd of students in the hallway for their missing friend.

Adelaide sighed, "He had better hurry up, I am hungry." The girl reached up to brush a lock of her long black hair behind her ear. Dawn smiled at her, before turning her head to resume her search for their friend Julian. Dawn would never admit it to anyone, but she was rather jealous of Adelaide at times. She was a beautiful, intelligent Italian girl who was fluent in English. Dawn knew she would never speak Italian as well as Adelaide spoke English. Plus Adelaide didn't have to worry about an older sister who seemed somewhat depressed at times, and then went out to fight the forces of evil. A part of Dawn worried that with that combination, there would be a time when Buffy wouldn't return home.

"Ladies," Julian smiled at both of his friends as he approached, towering over the majority of the other students, "time to eat!" Dawn shook her head, bringing her mind to the present as the three friends left for lunch. She had become friends with these two almost immediately after starting school and all three of them had become incredibly close. Almost like her own gang of scoobies, except without the fighting evil. She loved Rome.

Dawn was laughing at something Julian had said when _it _happened. Adelaide excused herself to go to the bathroom leaving Dawn alone with Julian at their table for three. This was something that had happened numerous times before with no consequences. Yet, this time, things changed, or perhaps it was just Dawn being more observant and things had been changing without her noticing.

Up until now if Dawn had been questioned she would have told anyone that they were a group of three really close friends that were platonic. None of them had expressed interest in dating since Dawn had been there. The girl herself, was more concerned with making friends, being in a new country and all. Plus she had seen Buffy's love life. She didn't feel the need to date anyone. Of course that was about to change.

Julian watched Adelaide as she walked away. This didn't ring any bells with Dawn, she wouldn't have given it a second thought if Julian hadn't said something. The seventeen year old picked up her sandwich to take a bite.

"Dawn," Julian said softly. He was another one who was fluent in English, although his was a bit more accented then Adelaide's was. Dawn looked at him, still grinning from his earlier comment, holding her sandwich, when she noticed the nervous look on his face. He bit his lip, glancing toward where Adelaide had gone, before taking a deep breath, turmoil clear in his dark eyes. Dawn put down her sandwich, her stomach clenching up, at the look on his face. Julian ran his hand through his dark hair, his brown eyes peering intently at Dawn.

"Do you think, that if I asked, Adelaide would date me?" Julian asked. Dawn looked at the boy speechless, her new world spinning around her. _What?_

Buffy sat staring at the bouquet that was resting on her kitchen table. The fourth day in a row. She honestly had no clue who could have sent it to her. Xander was somewhere in Africa, Giles in England, Willow and Kennedy in South America, and Angel was in Los Angeles. Riley was with his wife Sam, somewhere on the planet earth, but then again government agents who had to keep their locale secret probably didn't send flowers to ex-girlfriends. Especially government agents who were married. Buffy tapped her fingers onto the table, noticing that they were chipped and dirty. She hadn't met anyone in Rome other than the new slayers. She considered briefly that one of them had sent her the flowers and then immediately wrinkled her nose at the thought. That was more Willow's territory than hers. The only other person who would send Buffy flowers was dead. The young woman's stomach dipped at the thought.

She forced her attention back to the bouquet in front of her. She couldn't even recognize the handwriting on the card. Of course a lot of florists would write anything the customer asked them to, so it could have just been the person who took the order's handwriting. She did know that it matched the handwriting from the bouquet from the day before, but if the person used the same florist, she shook her head.

The blonde slayer sighed, getting up from the kitchen chair and walking into the living room.

Buffy briefly thought about trying to contact the florist around the corner to see what light he could shed on the matter, but that required speaking Italian and she found herself feeling tired at the thought. A thought occurred to her. Buffy looked at the bouquet and the card closely. There was no indication as to what flower shop had sold these flowers. The possibilities of where the bouquet came from increased the slayer's sense of exhaustion.

She dropped herself down onto the couch. She had to give her sister some credit for the furniture she had picked, this couch was one of the most comfortable things Buffy had ever had the fortunate to lay on. She sprawled back and closed her eyes, pushing the matter of the mysterious bouquet to the back of her mind, letting herself drift off into sleep.

"_Buffy"…_

_Buffy turned, hearing someone whisper her name. She blinked. Then blinked again. She was no longer in her apartment in Rome. She was, somewhere else. The girl frowned, not recognizing her location. It was bright and white and unfamiliar. _

_"Buffy," the whisper came again. She looked all around her, trying to place where the voice was coming from. There was something about the voice, like it was trying in vain to get her attention as if whoever the person was wanted to warn her about some imminent danger. She bit her lip trying to place it. The voice was too low to be identified as male or female, but she knew that whoever it was, was trying to _protect _her. The question was what was it protecting her from?_

A.N. Thank you for reading and reviewing.


	4. Chapter 4

Dawn Summers opened the door to the apartment she shared with her older sister. At first glance, it appeared the main room, which consisted of kitchen, dining and living area, was empty. Moving further into the apartment, she noticed her older sister was asleep on the couch, light from the setting sun trickling in the windows to frame her sister's pale face, highlighting the dark circles under her eyes. Noticing that her sister was shivering, Dawn moved quietly over to where Buffy was and taking a deep blue blanket that was on one of the chairs, covered the girl. Dawn stood there for a moment watching her sister sleep.

Buffy jerked herself awake gasping, clenching her fingers on the blanket that had somehow ended up on her. She opened her eyes groggily, vaguely hearing the sound of the TV from Dawn's room. Buffy sat up slowly, her body aching from the way she had been laying on the couch, the blanket that Dawn must have covered her with, falling onto the floor. She glanced out the window, noticing the light was slightly weaker than before. Buffy groaned. She still had some time to kill before sunset.

"Dawn," Buffy called out, wincing slightly at the pain in her throat. She sat up slowly.

"Yea," Dawn came out of her room, looking at Buffy closely. The older girl paused, something about Dawn seemed off, but she decided to ignore it for the moment. She doubted her little sister would tell her anyways.

"What do you want for dinner?" Buffy asked, standing up and stretching. Dawn went quiet at the question for a moment, before answering.

"Um, I have plans already," Dawn responded, not quite meeting her sister's eyes. Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"You do, do you?" She asked smirking leaning against the kitchen counter, "and his name is?"

Dawn stuck out her tongue at her sister before she turned and starting going down the long hallway back into her room, "None of your business," she called out behind her.

"I'm your legal guardian, of course it's my business," Buffy said, following Dawn into her room, "Plus I'm living vicariously through you and all."

Dawn turned to glare at her sister, "You wouldn't need to live vicariously through me if you actually got off your lazy butt and did something other than slay vampires." The girl stood with a hand on her hip. Her older sister missed the flash of concern in the teenager's eyes.

Buffy sighed, "I know, I just… don't," she sat down heavily on Dawn's bed, "I just don't have the energy or motivation to go out and get a job or meet new people." Buffy's voice trailed off. She looked around the spacious area that was Dawn's room. The walls were an off white on three sides. Her sister had put up pictures on the one light blue wall. Most of them were of her with her new friends, Adelaide and Julian. Some had Willow and Xander. Buffy even saw one with Giles in it. The older man had a look on his face that implied he wasn't happy about having a camera shoved in his face. Buffy knew that these pictures were taken after they had left Sunnydale. Buffy winced as she saw the pictures with herself in them. There was something off about them. The girl wrenched her attention away from the pictures, focusing instead on the wardrobe next to them. There weren't any closets in Dawn's room so they had had to go out and buy a wardrobe instead. Dawn's took up half the wall and was a deep brown. Buffy remembered it being expensive. Something about being made out of mahogony. The doors on it were closed, but Buffy knew it contained some of the latest fashions.

"Uh, Buffy?" Dawn waved her hand in front of her sister's face. Buffy looked over at her sister blinking.

"Sorry I just, uh, never mind. Have fun at your dinner," Buffy wandered out of the room in a daze, leaving Dawn staring after her. Something was up with her sister, Dawn was sure of it. She bit her lip before sighing and turning to go to her desk. She needed to finish up her homework before her dinner, which happened to be with Adelaide but if Buffy wanted to jump to conclusions that was her problem.

Buffy stood in front of the big silver box in front of her before she opened the refrigerator door and looked in. She frowned. To be perfectly honest she wasn't in the mood to eat anything, however if she was going to go out tonight to slay vampires and what not she had to have something in her stomach. She just wasn't sure what she wanted. .

"I'm leaving now Buffy," Dawn said, entering the kitchen, a little while later, eying her sister who was still trying to figure out what she should make herself for supper.

"Bye," Buffy said, not turning around from where she was standing in front of the open refrigerator. Dawn rolled her eyes and walked out the door, only just deciding not to make a comment about leaving the fridge open for so long. If Buffy wanted a high electricity bill than so be it.

Buffy sighed, settling on a yogurt before finally shutting the door. She was surprised to see the goose bumps on her arms. She hadn't even felt that cold. She wandered over to where her laptop was still sitting on the kitchen table. She opened the machine and clicked on an icon before moving her finger over the mouse to check for emails. Her heart sped up when she noticed her inbox had one new message. She frowned, when she saw it was an email advertising for a sale at a shoe store. The blond closed the email, noting to herself she should go out to get a pair of shoes.

The phone that was resting right next to Buffy, rang.

Buffy answered, not taking her eyes off the screen of her laptop.

"Giles," she said genuinely excited to hear the older man's voice. She turned away from the screen.

"Hello Buffy," Giles said softly, "How are things there?" he asked, not wanting to get into the reason he called just yet.

"Oh, everything's fine here," Buffy said airily as she lied through her teeth. Giles was busy. He didn't need to know everything that was going on in her life. Especially since there was nothing _wrong_ per se.

"You're getting along with the new slayers?" Giles asked, genuinely wondering. He knew that Buffy had stopped going to the training center in Rome a week and a half before. The watcher there was one of the newer ones that had barely finished his training under the old Council. Giles knew that he could handle the girls on his own. He was more worried about why Buffy had stopped working with them.

"They listen to me," the girl answered as she glanced out the window again. It was almost time to go out.

"Good, good," the watcher responded as his stomach clenched. She was lying to him. Add that to the fact that Buffy was not going to like what he was about to tell her. He decided to drop her lie for now. "There's a reason I called."

A.N. Thank you for reading and please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Buffy's grip tightened on the phone as she listened to what her watcher was telling her.

"Wha- do we know-" Buffy couldn't finish her sentence.

Giles shook his head and took off his glasses to clean them, tucking the phone under his chin. "We just know that seven of the new slayers have been found dead. All in the same manner. All with the number seventeen branded into their cheeks, all drained of their blood, all with a stab wound to their chest that was made before their blood was drained," the man said. "We're still looking into what it was that made the stab wound," he continued softer.

"What made the stab wound? Why does that matter? Seven_- seven_ girls have been killed, all by the same lunatic. We're vampire slayers, we're suppose to stop this kind of stuff," Buffy said, waving her arms through the air, her phone going along for the ride.

Once she returned the phone to her ear, she could hear Giles speaking.

"Buffy, rest assured we will do our best to find who this vampire is, that is killing the slayers. I have the psychics on it. I also have tightened security around the training headquarters and the girls are going out together in bigger groups then before. Although that could make it harder to track vampires," the man mused out loud.

Buffy snorted, "You know this monster won't go after the girls out patrolling. He'll find the ones off duty or who haven't even been tracked down yet and target them. Plus you said the last girl was found a week ago. Are you sure he's still in England?" she asked, while inwardly fuming that Giles had kept something like this secret for so long.

"I don't know Buffy," Giles said, rubbing his temple. "I just don't know."

Dawn sat with Adelaide at an outside table on an upstairs patio. They were surrounded by couples sitting around the circular tables that were arranged to contribute to a private and romantic air. The two friends ignored this however. Night had fallen, but there was still lots of light around, including the candles that were in the middle of most of the tables. Dawn moved her fork around her plate not looking at her food. Adelaide who had been giggling and pointing out things about the couples around them cut herself off abruptly.

"What is it?" Dawn looked up at the concern on her friend's face and bit her lip. She wasn't sure what to say to Adelaide.

"I think I might have feelings for Julian," so okay, apparently she did know what to say. Dawn sat there surprised at herself. She hadn't realized why she was so upset until just now. She had told herself that Julian liking Adelaide would upset the friendship balance, but apparently that wasn't the real reason. Adelaide looked at Dawn intently, a flicker of something in her eyes that was quickly masked ,before she laughed. Dawn looked at her surprised.

"Why is this a problem?" Adelaide waved her hand in the air with a dismissive air, "This is not unusual, girls fall for their boy friends all the time."

Dawn shook her head, "He likes someone else," she said softly.

"Ahh," said Adelaide knowingly, "broken hearts are a problem. There are many solutions for this, come let's go." Dawn got up and followed her friend.

Buffy came home a few hours before sunrise to find Dawn getting ready for bed. Dawn glanced at her sister before going into her room to collapse on her feather mattress.

February 19, 2013- Thursday

Dawn let herself into the apartment she shared with her sister. She had gone out shopping with Adelaide. Another remedy for a broken heart according to the Italian girl. She had almost fallen asleep at one of the boutiques her friend had insisted on dragging her into. Adelaide on the other hand seemed like she didn't know the meaning of the word tired. Dawn found herself flinching whenever she remembered Julian looking at Adelaide longingly. It didn't help that Adelaide had brought him up wondering who their mutual friend had a crush on. Dawn might have given Adelaide the impression he liked one of the other girls in their class. The girl felt slightly guilty. What if Adelaide had feelings for Julian? It wasn't fair to keep them apart from each other. She decided to worry about it another day.

She sighed to find her sister yet again sleeping in the middle of the day. She knew her sister was out at nights slaying, but still, she was a human being and she should be awake to see the sun sometimes. Something Dawn knew she wasn't seeing, even while Dawn was at school, due to the pale hue her skin had taken on the past few months. The less serious part of her amused herself with the thought that this was what happened when you dated vampires. You slept during the day, avoided the sun and became really pale and hopefully Buffy wouldn't take up drinking blood anytime soon. The serious adult part of her whispered that when human beings slept during the day frequently it could be a big warning sign of depression. Dawn bit her lip; she wasn't sure what she should do. She turned away from the sight of her sleeping sister with a feeling of nausea in her stomach and went into her room.

Buffy breathed in the night air letting it relax her muscles. She slowly closed her eyes letting the sounds and smells make their way to her. Something about being in the dark was just so natural and relaxing to her. The Slayer had begun to dread the sun and day preferring the dark and the softness of the moonlight. She opened her green eyes slowly to let the sights of Rome come to her. She let herself admire the architecture of the old buildings for a moment before she began scanning the area looking for anything unusual. She sighed. She should have known there wasn't any thing; she normally got this warning feeling along the nape of her neck when there was a vampire or anything other than human nearby. She started walking through the people still out on the streets trying to keep her eyes and ears open to what was out there.

Dawn rolled over on the couch, barely avoiding falling off. She turned the TV back on hoping that in the past ten minutes something good had come on. Rapidly changing the channels dispelled that notion. Dawn groaned. She was so bored. It was too early to be asleep, but Buffy would pitch a fit if Dawn went out without telling her. Dawn was surprised that she hadn't said anything last night about being out late. A sure sign of something being on the older girl's mind. Of course Buffy wasn't around to know if she went out again… Dawn shook her head. With her luck Buffy would happen to see her upon tracking down a vampire or something. The phone rang. Dawn shot up, nearly cheering.

"Hello?" Silence and then a click. Dawn stared at the phone for a moment. O…kay. Creepy. She shrugged and hung up. Probably a wrong number.

Buffy found herself in a demon bar. She sat in a corner trying to be as unnoticeable as possible as she discreetly eavesdropped on the various conversations happening around the bar. At least the ones that were in English. Of course most of the conversations being held made the blonde cringe and feel slightly sick to her stomach.

A tingle went up her neck. Someone was watching her. The blonde tried to look around the bar unnoticed. There was a vampire over in the corner, wearing leather. He was looking into his glass, but Buffy felt sure it was him that she had felt watching her.


	6. Chapter 6

Dawn was getting really annoyed now. It wasn't a wrong number. Whoever it was had called nine more times, and hung up after a moment of silence each and every time. Who the hell called someone ten times and didn't say a word. Only a psycho, said a voice in her head. A shiver ran down her back. She wished Buffy were here. She grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her after making sure the door was tightly locked and she had one of Buffy's weapons in front of her. It was going to be a long night.

Buffy slowly wandered home from the bar. After a few moments of glancing up every so often trying to catch the leather clad vampire staring at her, she had given up and made her way to go confront and then stake him. By the time she had gotten to his corner, however, he was gone.

Dawn picked up her purse and jacket, beyond terrified by now. Sixteen times. Sixteen times the mysterious caller had called and hung up. Dawn wasn't sure what was going on, but she was getting the hell out of her apartment and going to find her sister. She hesitated. Perhaps it would be better to stay though, safer. The phone rang again. Seventeen….

Buffy cut through a cemetery nearby her apartment. She stopped halfway through. There was that familiar tingle again. The vampire from the bar was nearby. She turned slowly trying to spot any movement. Narrowing her eyes, she stepped forward into the direction she thought he might be and promptly tripped. Still on her hands and knees, Buffy turned to look at what she had tripped over. She bit back a scream. A girl lay on her back, eyes open and glossed over. The number seventeen was branded into her cheek and Buffy could spot the stab wound. She felt what little food she had eaten start making its way back up.

Buffy stared at the dead slayer on the hard ground for a moment. She stepped back and turned her head, taking in deep breaths to try and calm her stomach. After a couple of moments she turned back trying to shove her emotions away. She carefully looked over the scene for any clues lying nearby. All she saw were footprints around where the body was. She bent down carefully to take a closer look. There were footprints on top of footprints. None of which stood out in the hard packed dirt. Buffy stood back up and moved closer to the young girl. She looked no older than eighteen or nineteen. Her dirty blond hair laid in a tangled mess around her head. Buffy looked closer at the stab wound. There was a hole in the girl's shirt, but no blood. Reaching out carefully, Buffy brushed the girl's hair away from her neck to reveal where vampire fangs had broken her tanned skin. The slayer knew that the girl had been drained of blood before she was stabbed. But than why bother stabbing her in the first place than?

Carefully looking around Buffy pulled out her phone and took a few snapshots, sending them to Giles. It looked like his serial killer had moved into her part of the world. The vampire slayer sighed and with one last picture moved away from the scene. Someone sooner or later would find her. Buffy knew she couldn't afford to be caught at the scene. There were still a few former watchers out there that would use their influences to keep Buffy locked up to make things as difficult as possible.

Upon standing up the blond vampire slayer decided without too much thought to make her way home to her sister. She had lost the vampire that had been following her and she had a feeling she wouldn't find him tonight. She also needed to talk with Giles about this latest development in their traveling killer. Especially considering his M.O. seemed to have changed girl swallowed hard. Giles had said that the girls in England were stabbed and then drained of their blood. This girl, this slayer was drained and then stabbed. Why?

Willow frowned into her drink. Kennedy had promised to meet her here half an hour ago, but still hadn't shown. The redhead looked around the busy restaurant. There was no sign of the dark haired slayer. She glanced at her cell phone lying next to her drink on the table. No missed calls. Of course where the two young women were, the reception wasn't the best. The young witch sighed, standing up from the table, ignoring the dark haired man leering at her. She made her way out into the slightly cooler night and stopped, eyes scanning the area for any signs of her girlfriend.

"You lookin' for something. Or someone," Willow turned to see the man that had been leering at her, eying her up and down, his dark eyes watery and blood shot.

"My girlfriend," she answered, her voice sharp. She really wasn't in the mood for this. Kennedy hadn't been around a lot lately. She claimed she was busy with training the new slayers, and yet, Willow had a bad feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.

"Girlfriend," the man slurred out, grin widening. He had to reach out to the car that was near the two, to steady himself,"How about we find this girlfriend of yours and make it a party for three?"

Willow stepped back, her mouth already forming the words she needed. There was a quick light and then the man was gone. He would wake up tomorrow morning on his couch after having a very realistic nightmare about a woman beating him up. One or two bruises may or may not appear to make it seem as if there was a chance the nightmare wasn't one. Additionally the witch had thrown in some words to strengthen the hangover he was sure to experience. Willow grinned. Hopefully that would be enough to make him think twice next time about hitting on someone with no interest in him. Or, if she was lucky, he would hit on a slayer in a bad mood next time. The redhead turned and headed toward the motel she was sharing with Kennedy. Hopefully she would be there with a good explanation and an apology.

Giles sat on the phone trying not to yawn. One of his new, very eager to prove himself, watchers was on the other line,

"and he just like, dusted man. He was there one second and poof, dust in the wind the next," he ended his story about how he, yes he, no not a slayer, had dusted a vampire.

Giles glanced at his watch, "yes, but how are the slayers doing?" he asked for the second time, trying not to roll his eyes. Dare he think it, but the older man almost, _almost, _missed Andrew. At least he got to the point. _Eventually._ There came a beeping noise.

"Oh sorry, Ronald-"

"Ross."

"Right, someone's on the other line," Giles quickly switched over cutting off what Ross had been about to say.

"Whoever this is, thank you," Giles said, glad to have had a reason to end his conversation with Ronald or Ross or whatever his name was.

"Umm, you're welcome," Buffy said, confused, "were you talking to Andrew or something?" she asked.

"No. Worse," Giles said.

"Worse. Who's worse than Andrew? Even Spike at his most annoying wasn't as bad as Andrew," Buffy said wryly, ignoring the pang her stomach gave at the thought of the bleached blond.

"This new watcher named Ron or Rod or something," Giles said, resting his forehead on his hand, "Andrew at least keeps on the subject. Even though it tends to be too much information that you didn't need or want to know, he'll do his best."

"Ah," Buffy said, falling silent.

"So why did you call?" Giles asked, switching subjects.

"Oh right! There was a body at the cemetery tonight," Buffy said.

Silence.

"Giles?"

"There's lots of bodies at the cemetery."

Buffy rolled her eyes. Apparently she had caught Giles in one of those moods, "No, not like that. I mean, there was a slayer," she said emphasizing slayer. "She fits the description of that serial killer or whatever you had in England."

Giles sat up straight in his chair. "What do you mean?"

"She was drained of blood, a stab wound in her chest where her heart is and the number seventeen branded into her cheek. But it's weird, the stab wound was clearly made after her blood had been drained. You said the slayers in England were stabbed first," Buffy said to him. She leaned back against her kitchen counter, heart beating fast in her chest while she waited for Giles to say something.

"Oh dear god," the man whispered. Buffy waited silently.

Giles stood up, as a realization came to him, "He's coming after you," the watcher said, his voice coming out strained. "Whoever this vampire is, he's coming after you, Buffy."

Time seem to slow around Buffy, "How do you know?" she whispered, even though as soon as the words had been uttered, she knew deep down they were correct.

"I don't know. I just do." Silence fell between the Watcher and his Slayer.


	7. Chapter 7

_February 20- Friday_

Buffy hung up the phone, shaken by the conversation she just had with Giles. Deep down, she knew he was right. This vampire, male or female, was coming after her. The other slayers, they were just practice. Or a warning. She stared down at the counter of her kitchen sink.

The door shut. Buffy looked up to see Dawn come in, staring at her. Buffy's eyes flicked over to the clock. 2am.

"Where have you been?" Buffy demanded. She heard the question come out of her mouth. However, she didn't feel the emotion that was in it. Perhaps Dawn sensed this.

"Like you care," Dawn said back. She didn't say it angrily or even sadly. She said it like it was fact. Her older sister sighed.

"Dawnie. I do care. I just, I haven't felt like myself lately," Buffy confessed. She sat down in the closest chair. She felt her little sister move next to her.

"I know, you're depressed. About Spike and home and everything. I miss him too. I miss Mom and our house in Sunnydale," Dawn said softly to her sister, as she hugged her. Buffy leaned her head against Dawn's and sighed.

"I was just out walking. There were plenty of people out still. There were these creepy phone calls," the teenager informed her sister.

Buffy sat up and looked at her sister. "What creepy phone calls?"

Dawn shrugged, "Someone was calling and when I answered they didn't say anything. They just hung up the phone. But they kept calling back. I left around the seventeenth call."

Buffy stared at her, "Seventeen. This person called seventeen times."

"Yea why?"

Buffy shook her head, "Nothing. Just seems a lot of times to prank call someone. Which is what I'm sure it was," Buffy said with a reassuring tone.

Dawn looked at her. She knew her older sister was lying, but she didn't really feel like fighting her on it.

"Yea of course. That's all it was. Just a prank call."

Buffy sat in her bedroom thinking. She had moved in there so Dawn would think she had gone to bed. The number seventeen. The dead slayers in England. The stake through the slayers' hearts. The dead slayer in Rome. The seventeen phone calls. The vampire in leather following her. The flowers she had received several times now. A thought occurred to her. The woman made her way silently into the kitchen where she had put the bouquet into water. Her eyes traced over them confirming what she already knew. There were seventeen of them. Buffy turned around and went straight back into her room shutting the door softly behind her.

Seventeen. Buffy's stomach contracted. Spike had been hostile seventeen. But, he was dead. Buffy had seen it herself. So this had to be someone who knew Spike's connection to her. Because there was no way this person or whoever was focusing on the number seventeen by coincidence. This person knew about Spike and the number associated with him. Most likely someone Buffy knew personally. But who did she know that would do something like this?

_Angelus_ a voice said in her head. But Angel was in LA. Also Andrew had just seen him and he wasn't evil. At least not that Andrew saw. Buffy knew better than most that Angelus could act very convincingly as Angel when he wanted to. It did seem like something he would do. When Andrew had given her his rather long winded report about what Angel was up to, Buffy had sighed in relief. Well, sighed in relief that he was currently in L.A. The fact that he was running Wolfram and Hart had opened up a new worry. She hoped Angel knew what he was doing running an evil law firm and that he wasn't being seduced by the high life he was now leading.

Especially since there seemed something slightly off about Andrew's report. Almost like he was trying not to let something slip. Buffy had tried sneaking in some questions meant to trip him up, but Andrew had hung up the phone quickly citing that he had to use the bathroom and would talk to Buffy later. Buffy just shook her head at that, it was Andrew after all.

Buffy lay back on her bed. She never could get a break could she? It was one thing after another on the Hellmouth and now that it was gone? She had to worry about Angel, she had to worry about the new slayers, she had to worry about Dawn, she had to worry about her friends and whether or not they were okay and not going evil, and now she had new Big Bad to worry about who was going around killing slayers. At this point she was almost glad Spike was dead. At least she knew that he wasn't about to pop up out of nowhere and surprise her with something. Buffy put her head in her hands. What was next?


	8. Chapter 11

This chapter is being updated and will be replaced soon. Thank you for your patience and I hope once updated you will enjoy!


	9. Chapter 23

This chapter is being updated and will be replaced soon. Thank you for your patience and I hope once updated you will enjoy!


	10. Chapter 10

So I am currently rewriting this whole story. The majority is done. As of today the first chapter has been replaced. I am planning on chapter two being updated in a week, and hopefully will update a chapter or two every week. I sincerely hope you will enjoy the second version of Third time is the Charm as much as I do. Thank you for your patience and understanding. And of course these notes will be replaced with actual chapters soon. Please note I only made this note a new chapter so you the reader would know about the changes as they were happening instead of 9-10 chapters down the road and then have to go back to the beginning and reread 9 chapters.

Kat


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